Endocrine disrupting chemical emissions from combustion sources: diesel particulate emissions and domestic waste open burn emissions

Emissions of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) from combustion sources are poorly characterized due to the large number of compounds present in the emissions, the complexity of the analytical separations required, and the uncertainty regarding identification of chemicals with endocrine effects. In this work, multidimensional gas chromatographic-mass spectrometry (MDGC-MS) was used to characterize emissions from both controlled (diesel engine) and uncontrolled (open burning of domestic waste) combustion sources. The results of this study suggest that, by using MDGC-MS, one can resolve a much greater percentage of the chromatogram and identify about 84% of these resolved compounds. This increase in resolution helped to identify and quantify various classes of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the combustion emissions that had not been identified previously. Significant emissions (when compared to industrial sources) of known EDCs, dioctyl phthalate (over ∼2,500,000 kg year−1) and bisphenol A (over ∼75,000 kg year−1) were estimated from uncontrolled domestic waste burning. Emissions of several suspected EDCs (oxygenated PAHs) were observed in both diesel soot and the uncontrolled domestic waste burn samples. The emission rates of known and suspected EDCs estimated in this study suggest that combustion emissions need to be characterized for EDCs to further assess its importance as a source of EDC exposure.